New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) Manoj Bajpayee says he gives a
miss to high profile Bollywood parties as he thinks nobody
maintains their real self in such social gatherings.

The actor says he rather prefers to spend time with his
close friends with whom he can talk about life.

"I don't go to parties because I don't find anybody
behaving themselves or anybody being themselves. All of them
are pretending to be somebody else. So, I don't want to be a
part of it," Manoj told PTI.

"I'd rather be in my small get-together where you get to
interact with everybody and share some ideas about life and
work and gain something out of it. And in parties you're not
gaining anything, you're just a part of the crowd which I
don't want."

Bajpayee says there are very few people in the industry
who share his point of view as him and one such person is
director-writer Neeraj Pandey.

They are collaborating again for "Naam Shabana" after 2013
thriller "Special 26".

"Neeraj has become a friend now. I admire him as a person.

As a creative person, everybody knows his capacity, he's a
great director and writer. But as a person, he's a very quiet
person and shy.

"He's somebody who likes to stay away from the media
glare. He doesn't go to parties. He's always either with his
family or at his office," Bajpayee says, adding that he is
happy that Neeraj counts him among his friends.

The actor says Neeraj is someone who "balances the
mainstream and the parallel cinema" and does a thorough
research for his characters.

"The kind of content Neeraj provides is amazing and I'd
love to be a part of it. His characters are based on complete
research. They are not created in the thin air."

Bajpayee plays the role of an intelligence agency officer
in the movie, which also stars Taapsee Pannu, Anupam Kher and
Danny Dezongpa.

"You'll get to see something unique. You'll not see me
emoting at all. I have more than hundred lines in the film.

These are the lines delivered in a very matter of fact way
because my character is very unemotional.

"For him the nation comes first. He's 24 hours in the job.

He's absolutely unemotional when it comes to dealing with an
enemy or even for that matter his own field agents. He doesn't
do favours to anybody and even if he does he wants something
in return."

Directed by Shivam Nair, "Naam Shabana" is a spin-off of
"Baby" and is set to hit the theatres on March 31.